Posts tagged Bags

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. Mine was spent at home with family, which is just how I like it.

After a few days of relaxing, and purposefully avoiding the first crazy days of the sales, I spent yesterday and today doing a bit of shopping. Luckily the shops weren’t too busy, and though I didn’t go mad, I managed to get quite a few items that I’m really pleased with. Here are most of them…

Primark Biker Jacket – Was £23.00, Paid £10.00

Primark Dressing Gown – Was £12.00, Paid£5.00

George Penguin Fleece – Was £16.00, Paid £8.00

Primark Black Bag – Was £6.00, Paid£3.00

Primark Green Bag – Was £6.00, Paid £3.00

New Look Boots – Was £27.99, Paid£14.00

New Look Shoes – Was £11.99, Paid£4.00

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7″ – Was £139.99, Paid£79.00

I bought a few other things in the sales which aren’t pictured, including a pair of gloves for £2.00, some Christmas decorations reduced from £3.00 to £1.00, a diary for £1.99 (down from £7.00) and a Vax hoover for £45.00, reduced from about £70.00. I also bought a couple of non-sale items too, namely a top and a case for my new tablet.

In total, I made a huge saving of around £90.00 in the sales this year, made all the better by the fact that a few items were paid for using vouchers that I got for Christmas.

One of my favourite things about summer is the storms. The rain that cools the air down, the thunder, the lightning – it’s all so exciting! This weekend has been particularly unpredictable, with amazing storms one minute, and bright, hot sun the next, which though nice, makes it difficult to know what to wear.

The key for me has been light layers that can be added/removed accordingly. A dress makes a great base for this kind of look, as it’s cool enough for the sun, but can be made rain and wind proof with a jacket and tights. I went for this New Look Multi Strap Skater Dress that I bought in the last ASOS sale, and added a pair of basic sheer black tights from Primark to avoid flashing my undies in the wind, and a lovely waterfall jacket from Everything5Pounds. I absolutely love this jacket as it’s really comfortable, and is perfect for warm weather as a cover as the fabric is so lightweight.

To accessorise, I wore my Alexander McQueen Cateye Sunglasses, that are an absolute essential when the sun is shining, and I also gave my New Look stud pumps a first outing. Of course my trusty thrifted Topshop leather bag was a necessity too, and I added a heavy spike bracelet from Accessories Boutique to bring the stud theme of the outfit together.

Firstly, allow me to apologise for the delay in announcing the winner of my JollyChic giveaway. I had a bit of trouble verifying entries through Rafflecopter, BUT the issue has now been fixed and the time has come for me to name the winner! The winner will receive $100 (with free shipping) to spend on fashion at JollyChic.com, which will be credited to your JollyChic account. Between you all, you earned over 4,000 entries, so I’d just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who entered for making the giveaway such a success.

So, now the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The winner of my JollyChic giveaway, as chosen at random via Rafflecopter, is entry number 258, which belongs to…

Tara Hunter-Reid

Congratulations, Tara! You are the lucky winner. Please email me at bewitcheryblog@gmail.com to confirm the email address that you used to register with JollyChic, and I will pass the information on so they can credit your account.

Once again, a big thank you to everyone who entered, and thank you too to JollyChic.com for sponsoring this giveaway.

If there’s one thing a student should invest in, it’s a good bag. During my five years at university I went through countless bags because I was buying cheap and filling them with heavy books, and in the end the straps or zips just gave up. Overall, I ended up spending a small fortune on bags, rather than buying one good quality one that would’ve lasted me years. Needless to say I’ve learnt my lesson, and though I’m no longer a student myself, I still work at a university, and I’ve discovered the perfect bag for all your university needs – a Vida Vida Satchel.

Vida Vida was started in 2005 by husband and wife Matt and Andreya Townsend. Their brand combines British design with a passion for travel and worldwide workmanship, and they work with suppliers and craftsman from around the world to create their beautiful range of bags, belts and jewellery. Reassuringly, Vida Vida have an excellent ethical policy, and all of their products are fairly sourced for a fair price, and Matt and Andreya visit their suppliers annually to ensure they maintain strong relationships. Their leather is also ethical, as they use leather which is naturally processed and coated, and is a bi-product of animals used for meat, rather than from animals killed primarily for leather.

The Vida Vida satchel I use is the dark tan Large Leather Satchel, which is made of soft and supple vintage-look leather that has a natural, earthy charm to it. One thing I love about the look of this bag is that it isn’t perfect. Due to the natural tanning process Vida Vida use, the leather has small marks on it that some would call imperfections, but they actually give each bag a unique character that gets better with age. It’s lined with a thick fabric too which is extremely hard-wearing, so is unlikely to rip or get damaged easily, even if you use the bag a lot.

In terms of size, this satchel is just right. 30cm high, 38cm wide and 10cm deep, to be precise. It’s big enough to fit everything you need for your studies, but not too big that it’s awkward to carry. The bag has a large compartment inside with a divider, which can easily fit a 15″ laptop, folders and books, an inside zip pocket, and another zipped section and a buckle pocket on the front. Vida Vida actually demonstrate what you can fit in each bag here, but I thought I’d recreate the image for myself to prove just how much you can pack inside this Tardis of a satchel!

As you can see, I managed to fit in an A4 binder containing paperwork and a notebook, a book, a pencil case, an umbrella, my purse, a hairbrush, my phone, my bus pass, a bottle of water, paracetamol and make up, and there was STILL plenty of space left for snacks, extra books and possibly more. Impressive, right? Due to the suppleness of the leather, it expands to fit what you need, and since the bag fastens with traditional buckles, it will still close. I like to use the front buckled pocket for things I need easy access to, such as my phone, bus pass and coins.

The satchel is also really easy to wear and carry. It has a carry handle on top, and an adjustable shoulder strap so it can be worn at whatever length feels right for you, and it’s also the ideal width for comfortable wearing.

I adore my Vida Vida satchel – it’s practical, stunning to look at, works great with any outfit (keep an eye out for styling posts coming soon), and is excellent quality. This particular satchel retails for £80.00, and it’s worth every penny if you want a bag that will last you for years and save you money in the long run, as you won’t have to keep replacing it! You can view the full range of Vida Vida satchels here. There are various sizes to choose from, so if you like this satchel but think it’s too big or too small for you, you can size up or down accordingly.

Which bag would you choose?

Naomi x

*This Large Leather Satchel was sent to me by Vida Vida for review purposes. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.*

Last Friday I was among a few lucky bloggers and press who got to attend the Zatchels Factory Shop VIP launch event in Leicester. For those who don’t know (and I’m sure there aren’t many) Zatchels are a fashion brand who design and create leather satchels, saddle bags, barrel bags, duffel bags and other accessories, using traditional British manufacturing methods. Their factory is located in Leicester, where highly skilled staff make every single bag by hand, and everything is made to order. Leicester used to have a thriving manufacturing industry, which many of my relatives worked in, so as a Leicester girl born and bred I like to see a Leicester brand doing so well, and I was very keen to support them on their factory shop launch day.

The event started with a chance to meet the brains behind the brand, including Company Directors Dean Clarke and Brian Brady, and Zatchels Creative Director and celebrity stylist Gemma Sheppard, who it was great to meet. We also got to preview some bags from a few new collections which are yet to be launched, and they are absolutely stunning! This pretty little thing was my particular favourite…

Once everyone had arrived Dean and Brian took us on a tour of the Zatchels factory, which had a friendly atmosphere and bright interior, what with all the piles of different leathers – it was amazing to see! We got to watch how each bag is made by hand, from selecting the leather, cutting it and putting all the parts together, right up to quality control and packing. It was so interesting to see the process from start to finish, and I can assure you that so much care and effort is put into every single product.

After the tour, we were taken to the factory shop for its official opening. There were some yummy ‘Best of British’ nibbles on offer, including Zatchels cupcakes from Bitsy’s Cupcakery and Sweet Eve strawberries, and we had the opportunity to browse the bags on offer and have another chat with the other guests and Zatchels directors.

The Zatchels Factory Shop is based at 10 Charter Street, Leicester, which is located very close to the city centre (about a 5 minute walk) and has ample parking. The shop will be open every Wednesday to Friday from 12pm until 6pm, and Saturday 10am until 5pm, and there is a mix of factory seconds and sample bags for sale, as well as quality retail products. Every bag in the shop has been graded and priced accordingly, as follows:

Grade A – Perfect Quality – Full Price

Grade B – Slight Imperfections – 30% off

Grade C – Stitching Imperfections or Scratches – 40% off

I checked lots of the bags over myself to see how noticeable the imperfections are, and even the Grade C bags are still brilliant quality (I could barely find anything wrong with them) so you really can get yourself a bargain.

I had such a fun day at the Zatchels VIP event. It was really nice to meet some other Leicester bloggers and chat to the Zatchels team, and I loved having a look behind the scenes at the process that goes into making every single Zatchels bag. All guests left with a goody bag too, which was a really nice touch. I plan on doing another post soon with advice on how to style your Zatchels bag, so keep an eye out for that!